How to Make Laundry Bar Soap for Business in Nigeria

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about how to start a car wash business in Nigeria – which doesn’t require you to have any special qualification and skills. Another business you can do that doesn’t require any special qualification and skills is laundry bar soap business. So, in this post, I will show you how to make laundry bar soap for business in Nigeria.

Like in the car wash business, the things you need to start the soap making business are readily available and don’t cost much.

Now, let us go through how you can make laundry bar soap for business in Nigeria.

Bar Soap Making Ingredients

Here are the ingredients needed for making the soap.

Caustic Soda

Caustic soda is one of the main bar soap making ingredients you need to start the business. It comes in white pearls, and when added to water, it produces an aqueous solution. The chemical name for caustic soda is Sodium Hydroxide.

Soda Ash

The second most important bar soap making ingredient is soda ash. It is a soluble compound that has been hydrated in washing soda – and it determines the quantity and quality of the bar soap. Usually, soda ash is of two forms – the light and dense form.

Fats and Oil

To make laundry bar soap, a process called saponification, which requires fats and oil, is involved. In the process, triglyceride, which is the main component of fats and oil, is broken down into glyceride after reacting with the caustic soda (Sodium Hydroxide). It is at the end of this saponification process that the laundry bar soap is formed.

Palm kernel oil is the recommended oil for making laundry bar soap for business in Nigeria.

Sodium Sulphate

The function of Sodium Sulphate in soap making is to strengthen the soap. The compound comes in bitter white salt.

Kaolin

Kaolin is a fine white clay; its purpose in making laundry bar soap for business in Nigeria is to serve as a filler and an extender.

Colourant

As its name implies, colourant, as a bar soap making ingredient, adds colour to soap and makes it look appealing to the eye.

Perfume

Perfume makes the laundry bar soap to smell nice.

Now that we have the bar soap making ingredients let’s look at the instruments you need to make laundry bar soap for business in Nigeria.

Instrument to Make Laundry Bar Soap for Business in Nigeria

Heater

Before the palm kernel oil can be used for the process of saponification for making laundry bar soap for business in Nigeria, it has to be heated. Therefore, a heater is needed to heat up the oil.

Hydrometer

To not waste your bar soap making ingredients and to get the right quality of soap, a hydrometer is needed to check the chemical concentration of the caustic soda and soda ash solution. The instrument helps you ensure that the concentration is neither too high nor too low.

Mixer

A mixer is needed to mix all the bar soap making ingredients. Depending on the scale of laundry bar soap you want to produce, you can use a manual or electric mixer.

Fermenting Tanks

Aside from saponification, another process in soap making is fermentation of the caustic soda and soda ash. The process requires two fermenting tanks with covers.

Moulds

Moulds can be plastic, wooden, or metal. It is inside them you pour the soap mixture so that it can solidify.

Cuter or Cutting Machine

For your laundry bar soap business in Nigeria, you would need a cutter to cut the soap into your desired shapes and sizes.

Stamping Machine and Cartons

Since you aim to make laundry bar soap for business in Nigeria, you would also need stamping machine to inscribe your name and trademark on your soap. The cartons are meant for packaging and transportation.

How to Make Laundry Bar Soap for Business in Nigeria

To make laundry bar soap on a large scale that can be sold to customers, here is the recommended mixing formula for the bar soap making ingredients.

Palm kernel oil (8kg), caustic soda (6kg), soda ash (800g), sodium sulphate (150g), and silicate (200g). You also need an appropriate portion of colourant and perfume.

Procedure to Making Laundry Bar Soap for Business in Nigeria

Pour the caustic soda, kaolin and 4 litres of water into one of the fermenting tanks. Stir the mixture and cover for 48 hours. The recommended concentration is 1,275.
Inside the second fermenting tank, pour the soda ash, sodium sulphate and 2.5 litres of water. Stir the mixture and leave for 24 hours. Here, the recommended concentration is 1,200.
Using the heater, heat the palm kernel oil and add the colourant in the process
Allow the heated oil to cool
Pour the oil into the mixer
Then add the caustic soda solution and mix vigorously
Then add the soda ash solution and continue mixing
Then add the silicate
Then add the perfume and continue mixing
Then pour the resulting mixture into the moulds
Allow the mixture to solidify in the moulds for like 2 – 3 hours
Use the cutting machine to cut and shape the soap the way you desire
Use the stamping machine to inscribe your name and trademark
Finally, the soap can now be packaged in cartoons for selling